Punchbowl Blog

I’m thrilled to announce that we’ve closed a $2.1M Series A funding, led by Contour Ventures with participation from Intel Capital and eCoast Angels. This funding will enable us to increase our leadership position and expand MyPunchbowl. I’ll provide more details and some background stories later. For now, here is the official press release:

Framingham, Mass. (PR Newswire) September 16, 2008 – Punchbowl Software Inc. announced today that it has completed a $2.1 million Series A financing, led by Contour Venture Partners with participation from current investors Intel Capital and eCoast Angels. The new funding will be used to pursue strategic opportunities and grow the Punchbowl Software development team.

The Series A funding arrives at a key moment for the fast-growing company behind MyPunchbowl, a critically acclaimed event-planning website. MyPunchbowl serves up all of the key ingredients to effortlessly plan unforgettable celebrations. The site includes unique features for picking a date for the event, sending save-the-dates, finding supplies, communicating with guests, sending online invitations, and sharing photos and videos after the event has passed.

“We’ve seen explosive growth since our first round of funding last year,” said Matt Douglas, CEO, Punchbowl Software. “This new funding will enable us to grow our team and pursue numerous market opportunities.”

MyPunchbowl’s step-by-step, workflow-based interface makes it popular for key life milestone events such as baby showers, bridal showers, milestone birthdays, and retirement events. The site’s traffic has grown more than 20 percent each month over the past year. With helpful tools, great advice, and unique features, MyPunchbowl helps hosts and guests get from the planning to the celebration without the stress.

“We see great opportunity for MyPunchbowl to continue to grow its leadership position in the party and event planning market,” said Bob Greene, co-managing partner, Contour Venture Partners. “Its viral and word of mouth growth impressed us and attracted us to invest with this outstanding management team.”

Since the launch of MyPunchbowl, the site has added unique features for event planning and party invitations. The “Pick a Date” feature helps drive group consensus and automates date selection for the host. The “Checklist” section offers an innovative way to organize party planning and a simple way to ask friends to bring something to the party. Users of the site can expect to see ground-breaking new features on MyPunchbowl within the coming months.

“The MyPunchbowl website is a great example of how new technology can bring value to consumers,” said Lucy McQuilken, investment manager, Intel Capital. “Intel Capital is pleased to re-invest in Punchbowl Software.”

This entry was posted on September 16, 2008 at 7:29 am and is filed under Funding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.